Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (born August 25, 1931) is an American media personality and occasional actor, known for fronting various talk and game shows. Appearing on television since the late 1950s, Philbin is often called (somewhat tongue-in-cheek and alternately attributed to James Brown) "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera. His trademarks include his excited manner, his New York Bronx accent, his wit, and irreverent ad-libs. He is most widely known for Live with Regis and Kelly, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Million Dollar Password, and for hosting the first season of America's Got Talent. He is a distant cousin of singer-songwriter and American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi.

Early life and career

Regis was born in 1931. His father was Francis "Frank" Philbin, a U.S. Marine who served in the Pacific, who was of Irish heritage. His mother, Filomena "Florence" Boscia, was of Albanian heritage, her ancestors from Greci, Italy. They lived at 1990 Cruger Avenue in the Van Nest section of The Bronx.www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/Regis/regis.html It was long believed that Philbin grew up an only child, but on the February 1, 2007, broadcast of Live with Regis and Kelly, Philbin announced that he did have a brother, Frank M. Philbin, who had died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma several days earlier. He said that his brother, 20 years younger than he, had asked him to not speak of him on television or in the press.HE'S MY BROTHER - New York Post

Regis attended Our Lady of Solace grammar school in the Bronx. He went on to graduate from Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx in 1949 before attending the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated in 1953 with a sociology degree. He later served in the United States Navy and went through a few behind-the-scenes jobs in television and radio before moving into the broadcasting arena.